02. Up! Good Christian folk, and listen
03. Gabriel's message
04. Rutter: Donkey Carol
05. Wexford Carol
06. Cradle Song
07. Child in a manger
08. Rutter: Mary's Lullaby
09. Ding! Dong! Merrily on high
10. Quelle est cette odeur agréable?
11. I saw a maiden
12. In dulci jubilo
13. Darke: In the bleak mid-winter
14. I saw three ships
15. The noble stem of Jesse
16. Tchaikovsky: The crown of roses
17. Elizabeth Poston: Jesus Christ the apple tree
18. Praetorius: Omnis mundus jocundetur
19. Wassail Song
20. The holly and the ivy
[Total time: 57'49]
Choir and Orchestra of Clare College, Cambridge conducted by John Rutter.
Decca 425 500-2 (recorded 1979; this CD release 1989)
(flac and scans)
Recording venue: The Lady Chapel, Ely Cathedral, England
Recording engineers: Colin Moorfoot and Jack Law; Producer: Andrew Cornall
This Christmas collection has been around in a few guises over the years, variously titled The Holly and the Ivy or Carols from Clare College - not to be confused with the EMI release Christmas from Clare. Mostly arrangements of traditional carols by John Rutter or David Willcocks (featured in the Oxford University Press' volumes of Carols for Choirs) but also with a sprinkling of original compositions.
The choir is, as usual with John Rutter, quite superb although some may find his arrangements a bit too Rutter-ish.. Although not matching last year's post of the St John's College Christmas Weekend disc, it is still a favourite every Christmas in our household.